This link has been bookmarked by 1 people . It was first bookmarked on 09 Nov 2007, by darorme.
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09 Nov 07
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In his own lifetime Nietzsche observed that in most cases "whoever thought he had understood something of me had made up something out of me after his own image (Ecce Homo III I)," and such is the case of Mencken.
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one might find this book worthwhile for a number of reasons; as an example of how Nietzsche was often understood when his influence was first making itself felt; as one of the earliest works of an exceptional man in his own right; and there are even parts which do serve their intended purpose quite well (I think Nietzsche would have entirely approved of the chapter on Education). Finally I myself found Mencken useful here as a sort of intellectual sparring partner; having read a good deal of Nietzsche, I wanted to sort out my own thoughts by putting them up against those of another intelligent but non-specialist reader. So the book does have its uses, just not the one it claims to.
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Say what you want of Mencken; he never levelled the guns of his criticism at anyone who could not fire back. By contrast; in our gallant Christian country, when some helpless nonconformist is set upon by a mob, it is usually with odds of ten against one, or more--something Mencken never ceased to scorn.
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Concerning Frau Foerster-Nietzsche, as her brother's literary executor she certainly did him no service by adulterating his ideas with vile antisemitism and lending his name to Nazism. Not that antisemitism is such a bad thing in the eyes of some.
As for "Prometheus'" remark about Nietzsche's face "covered... in drool"; is this not Christian lovingkindness at it's finest? This sort of thing merely helps prove the point of Nietzsche's unwatered contempt for Christianity.
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